Rape and Sexual Assault

"I learned that this wasn't my fault. I'm slowly re-building my self-esteem and confidence and hope by telling my story it will help someone."

Survivor, from Moab, Utah

Join us for the 5th Annual Sexual Violence Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Conference is to learn new perspectives on our therapeutic, crisis intervention or criminal justice responses.

This event is open to the public. Professionals working in the sexual violence field or those who are interested in sexual violence issues are invited to attend. This conference will have something for everyone.

Registration Information can be found at www.ucasa.org/conference

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

This Sexual Assault Awareness Month media toolkit was created with community-based prevention professionals and organizations engaging in primary prevention in mind. However, primary prevention concerns us all and if you are interested in sharing prevention messaging during the month of April, we encourage you to use this toolkit and add strength to our number of partners joining together on this effort.

One in three women will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Rape is the only violent crime in Utah that occurs at a higher rate than the rest of the nation. Studies show that one in eight Utah women will be raped and one in 50 Utah men will be raped in their lifetimes (1). According to Uniform Crime Reports, the rape rate in Utah has been consistently higher than the U.S. rate. In 2014, Utah's reported rape rate was significantly higher than the U.S. rate (67.7 and 51.9 per 100,000 females) (2). However, the majority of rapes (88.2%) are never reported to law enforcement, indicating that sexual violence in Utah is grossly underestimated (2,3).

How much does Sexual Violence cost?

New data revealed that in 2011, the costs of sexual violence totaled nearly $5 billion,
almost $1,700 per Utah resident. The greatest cost was due to the pain, suffering,
and diminished quality of life that victims experienced.
The data also revealed dramatic differences in the resources that are allocated after a
sexual assault takes place. In 2011, the Utah state government spent more than
$92 million on people known to have perpetrated sexual violence while spending
only $16.5 million on those who experienced sexual violence. Only $569,000 was
spent on efforts to prevent sexual violence. Read the full report...

What is Sexual Assault?

Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual contact or attention resulting from force, threats, bribes, manipulation, pressure, or violence. Sexual violence can take many forms, including rape or attempted rape, domestic and dating violence, and child sexual abuse. Sexual violence can happen to anyone regardless of age, gender, class, race, occupation, religion, sexual orientation, or physical appearance. Sexual violence is a crime of power and control. It has nothing to do sex or with how someone dresses or acts. No one asks or deserves to be sexually assaulted.

If you or someone you love is in a violent relationship, call these FREE hotlines open 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

Rape and Sexual Assault Statistics

A total of 895 rapes were reported to Utah police agencies in 2013. (7)

Utah's rate of rape has been significantly higher than the U.S. rate since 2000. (2)

In 2014, Utah's reported rape rate was significantly higher than the U.S. rate (67.7 and 51.9 per 100,000 females). (2)

The majority of rapes (88.2%) are not reported to law enforcement. (3)

One in eight women (12.4%) and one in 50 men (2%) reported they had experienced rape or attempted rape in their lifetime in 2006. (4)

In 2013, 8.9% of Utah female high school students have been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to, compared to 5.9% of male high school students.

Only 12.7% of sexual assault victims visit a doctor or medical center for an exam after the incident. Reasons for not seeking medical attention include because they were not injured, were too young to ask for help, were afraid someone would find out what happened, and not thinking clearly. (2)

Sexual assaults are rarely committed by strangers. Only 13.3% of victims report being victimized by a stranger. Most often, the assault is committed by a family member (30.9%), intimate partner such as a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend (20.8%), friend (14.3%), neighbor (9.9%), babysitter (2.2%), or coworker (1.8%). (3)

The majority of the victims knew their attackers. (6)

When
victims and non-victims were asked about their quality of life, victims had a
significantly higher prevalence in reporting that they were not satisfied with
life (14.7% vs. 4.8%), did not receive the social and emotional support they
needed (33.8% vs. 13.2%), had fair or poor health (25.9% vs. 10.7%), and were
limited in activities because of physical, mental, or emotional problems (39.2%
vs. 19.7%). (4)

In 2013 the Utah Sexual Violence Statewide Crisis and Informaiton Line received 321 calls. (7)